Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Petty in pink

I apologize in advance for the crankiness of these posts. I really did have a fun time, just a little snarky lately :)

Saturday was the Race for the Cure in DC.

I got up at 5:30am, argued with myself for a while about going or not. Finally decided it was unacceptable to bail on the race, and to just go, and quit whining. A 5K takes under an hour and I can suffer through anything for an hour.

I tend to side a lot more with getting up and training now that I'm single ...

I put on my hot pink Skirt Sports tri top, and my pink camo Skirt Sports Gym girl. It's appropriately camo since that thing has more pockets than cargo pants. Grabbed a couple bottles of water and ran out the door.

The Race for the Cure is smack dab in DC, so no driving. Caught the Metro at the end of the line and it was already packed. Now why at this point, they didn't just shuttle us to the race, or run a lot more trains. If you're going to encourage people to take the Metro, and "partner" with Metro, shouldn't they adjust to shuttling 25,000 people into the city?

Looking around at all the people wearing their race day shirts (free pass on this one) that I had left my bib at home. With my heart rate monitor. Doh! Well, what with all the hot pink I was wearing, I think they'll recognize me as one of theirs. That or I'm headed to a Barbie convention.

So most of the people were neophytes of some sort- new to the Metro, new to running, new to the civilized world ...

I was trying to be patient since everyone was there for a good cause, and these people are either survivors or someone who knows someone who has breast cancer.

However: do not try to shove into an already packed train. When they announce that some jerk is leaning on the doors preventing us from leaving, yes they are talking to you. You cannot use your paper card at the Smart Pass lines. It's been like 3 years people, get on board.

And my personal favorite, the lady leaning on the OUTSIDE of the train, as we are jetting away from the platform. Sigh.

I let the herd flood off at Federal Triangle, and committed to sprinting to the start line from the Smithsonian Mall stop. It's about the same distance away, and my sanity was worth the sprint.

I met up with my team just in time, and saw my friend Karl who was running with some of his class from the fire academy. He was wearing a t-shirt that said "Saving Second Base". Ahhh, that never gets old :)

There were supposed to be two waves, the run wave, and the walk wave. I was in the "run" wave, which became a game of human frogger.

Again, I was working to be nice, but seriously:

If you have a baby jogger, you belong in the walk wave.

If you signed up to run, but decided 98 was too hot, you belong in the walk wave.

If you are carrying a large banner, you belong in the walk wave.

I am not a fast runner by any stretch of the imagination, you have to be pretty slow to be a human speed bump for me.

And seriously people, run left, walk right, stop off the course, just like on the beltway.

And if you hit me with your baby jogger, next time I will throw an elbow. There are thousands of people running. If everyone else had to stop to walk because of crowding, it is not acceptable for you to shove everyone with your baby jogger. You get to walk too.

I will say that the race directors handled the heat pretty well. They seemed to have added an extra water stop, and a misting tent. And they were handing out water immediately once you stopped. The finish chute was the worst possible scenario. People were forced into lines, which became a full standstill. Going from a full sprint to the finish then stopping dead is not a smart plan in the heat. I have no idea how people didn't pass out right and left from the change in blood pressure.

All in all, kind of a frustrating experience. I didn't mind the heat and had a pretty good run, but I will sign up as a walker from now on.

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About Me

I like to run, but I'm slow. I love the water even if it doesn't always love me back. And I'm still tweaking the bike.
I hate jellyfish even if they do eat mosquito larva.
James Bond movies, ice cream, and finisher's medals make life worth living.